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Public School Vouchers

Page history last edited by hackett.landis@... 3 years, 5 months ago

Front Page / Issue Briefs / Education & Children, Youth and Families / Achievement Gap / Policy Option - Public School Vouchers

 

Policy Option

 

Public School Vouchers

 

 

Summary    one paragraph description 


  • Public school vouchers redirect education funding, and channel it directly to individual families instead of to the appropriate school districts. The purpose of this is to allow families to select the public or private schools of their choice and have part of or perhaps all the tuition paid. These scholarships are advocated on the grounds that parental choice and competition between public and private schools will improve education for all children. Families are given the capability and means to send their child to a better school should they have residency in a location with an underperforming school district. Funding comes from the government, by private organizations, or by some combination of both. 

 

 

Goal    short description of the policy or program goal  


  •  Public School Vouchers, also known as Education Vouchers, are designed to lessen the achievement gap and improve overall education.  Vouchers are intended to give families the opportunity to choose the best education for their children and pressure all schools, public and private, to become of higher quality due to surrounding competition. Vouchers allow parents to use all or part of the tax funding set aside for their children's education to send them to public or private school of their choice. 

 

 

Cost    total policy or program cost; also include per person cost if available 


  • The cost for public school vouchers varies by state as they are not part of a federal program nor is public education. An ideal school choice program would give every child a voucher or tax credit to be spent on educational services at any public or private school. The amount of this voucher or tax credit should be nearly equivalent to the amount of funds spent per student in public school. Nationally speaking, The Department of Education's 2010 Comparative Study Guide found the average cost per pupil to be $13,835. This would mean that a national public school voucher would probably BE in the range of $8,000-$11,000, however this would change by state. No matter the cost variation, studies have proven that public school vouchers save the states a great deal of money.

 

 

Implementation    describe how the policy or program is implemented (esp. who, how) 


  • Public School Vouchers are implemented on the State level through legislation.  A voucher is issued by the government to eligible families, which parents can apply toward tuition for their children at a private or public school different from the one assigned by location.  These schools may charge some amount beyond the voucher and may not have to accept all applicants, depending on the voucher program guidelines.  The details of each individual voucher program differs from state to state. [1]

 

 

Evaluation    summarize any evaluation findings that policy or program effectiveness


  • Public school vouchers have so far been proven very effective. In many studies, the results have shown incredible savings and some studies have indicated that students participating in a voucher program are performing better than students in their district who are not. For example, in a federal study of the D.C. voucher program found that voucher students have pulled significantly ahead of their public school peers in reading and are performing at least as well as public school students in math. The study also reports that the average tuition at the voucher schools is $6,620 which is 1/4 of D.C. spends per pupil on education ($26,555)[2]

 

 

Status    indicate whether this policy or program has been adopted in more locations or remains a proposal 


  • There are many different kinds of Public School Voucher programs.  There are Universal, Means-Tested, Failing Schools, Failing Students, Special Needs, Pre-Kindergarten, and Town Tuitioning voucher programs.  The difference between these programs is eligibility.  All children are eligible for Universal Voucher programs, whereas Means-Tested programs only define children from families below a determined income level as eligible.
  • Failing Schools and Failing Students programs are for children who are performing poorly in public school or who are attending failing public schools.  Special Needs voucher programs are for children identified as having special educational needs or who have Individualized Education Plans (IEPS).  Pre-Kindergarten voucher programs are for children in pre-kindergarten and Town Tuitioning programs are for children who live in towns that do not operate public schools at their grade levels.  In a few cases the town picks the school to which its students will be tuitioined, but usually the choice of the school is left to parents. 
  •  Similar to vouchers are Tax-Credit Scholarships.  Individuals and/or corporations receive tax credit from state taxes for making donations to non-profit organizations, which use the donated money to fund private school scholarships for students.  In some programs, students must meet certain income criteria to be eligible for scholarships.  Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) are non-profits that can be started by anyone.  Participating private schools are required to meet standards for safety, fiscal soundness, and non discrimination. 

 

  • Below is a list of states that have adopted Public School Voucher programs[3].  (As of 2012)

 

    • Arizona                            Tax Credits for School Tuition Organizations
    • District of Columbia     Opportunity Scholarship Program
    • Florida                             Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program
    • Georgia                            Tax Credits for Student Scholarship Organizations
    • Iowa                                 Tax Credits for School Tuition Organizations
    • Louisiana                        Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program                      
    • Maine                               Town Tuitioning Program
    • Ohio                                 Educational Choice Scholarship
    • Pennsylvania                  Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program
    • Rhode Island                  Corporate Tax Credits for Scholarship Organizations
    • Vermont                          Town Tuitioning Program
    • Wisconsin                       Milwaukee Parental Choice Program

 

 

Point of View    quotations from those in support or opposition to this policy or program 


  • Support
    • Milton Friedman: "Education spending will be most effective if it relies on parental choice and private initiative - the building blocks of success throughout our society."

 

    • U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (I.Conn): “It’s about providing a multitude of options where the ultimate benefit is not for any existing system but for our children.” He called the scholarships a “civil rights program.” [4]

 

    • Independence Hall Tea Party President Teri Adams: “We think public schools should go away...Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities." [5]

 

  • Opposition
    • President Barack Obama: "Private school vouchers are not an effectiveway to improve student achievement. The Administration opposes targeting resources to help a small number of individuals attend private schools rather than creating access to great public schools for every child." [6]

 

    • Former public school teacher and reform activist Jonathan Kozol: I believe that vouchers are the single worst, most dangerous idea to have entered education discourse in my adult life. [7]

 

    • Kweisi Mfume, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP): "Voucher proposals take many forms, and some are designed to deliberately disguise the basic realities that will result over time. The best students will be skimmed off -- those whom private schools find desirable for their own reasons. Since families will have to make up additional costs, those in the upper-and middle-income brackets will be helped the most -- as long as their kids don't have personal, behavioral, or educational challenges that cause the private school to pass them by."

 

    • Toledo, Ohio Board of Education President Bob Vasquez : "That bill regarding school vouchers is a step in dismantling public education." --Regarding an Ohio bill that would expand the program to include a family income of up to $95,000[8]

 

 

 

Contact     contact information for sponsor of this policy or program 


  •  

 

 

Bibliography    link to any additional readings or websites related to this policy or program 


  •   

 

Footnotes

  1. http://www.schoolchoices.org/roo/vouchers.htm
  2. http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/dc-vouchers-better-results-at-a-quarter-the-cost/
  3. http://www.edchoice.org/CMSModules/EdChoice/FileLibrary/625/The-ABCs-of-School-Choice---2011-Edition.pdf
  4. http://theaquilareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3915:congressman-boehner-and-senator-lieberman-push-for-school-vouchers&catid=78:news-from-other-media&Itemid=135
  5. http://thinkprogress.org/education/2011/07/11/265663/voucher-tea-party-go-away/
  6. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/school-vouchers-education-reform_n_843861.html
  7. http://www.expressmilwaukee.com/article-5728-an-interview-with-educator-and-activist-jonathan-kozol.html
  8. http://www.wtol.com/story/16298564/opponents-force-changes-to-ohio-school-voucher-bill

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